DIY Connect Four Game
Ahhhh, Connect Four. The stuff of my youth. Many an hour was spent on our old plastic Connect Four game, with my sister outsmarting me almost every dang time. I had to make a new version so I could play her again and try to even the score! Ryan and I have been playing at night after Henry goes to bed so I can brush up my skillz and challenge her to a Connect Four duel! Wanna make one and relive your youth, too?
Materials
- 1/8″ plywood
- 1/4″ square dowel
- 1/2″ drill bit with drill
- miter saw
- sander
- spray paint in two colors
- ruler
- pencil
- air dry clay
- small circular cookie cutters – we used the smallest size of these
- water glass or rolling pin
- craft paint in two colors
- paintbrush
- E6000
Make Time: 3 Hours (Plus Drying Time)
To make the board:
1. Cut two pieces of plywood, each 6 1/2″ x 5 1/2″. Cut 7 lengths of the dowel, each 5 1/2″. Cut one length of dowel to 6 1/4″. Cut two triangles from the plywood, each with a base of 2 1/4″ and a height of 1 1/4″.
2. On the two pieces of plywood, use the pencil and ruler to draw a grid for your holes. There should be 6 across and 7 high, evenly spaced so that horizontally there is 1/2″ between each hole and vertically there is 1/4″ between each hole.
3. Get your drill out and go to town! Drill your holes in each piece of plywood. Once the holes are drilled, sand the plywood to get rid of any splinters.
4. Glue the long dowel to the bottom of one of the boards so that it’s flush with the bottom. On the same board, glue the short pieces of plywood vertically across the board (one flush on either side, and the others separating the vertical columns of holes).
5. In a well-ventilated area, give all of your wood pieces a few light coats of white spray paint on both sides. Let dry thoroughly between coats.
6. Mask off a diagonal half of the outside of each board. Cover the unmasked portion with a coat of gold spray paint.
7. Allow to dry thoroughly. Glue the two boards together, sandwiching the dowels between them. Glue the two triangles on the bottom of the boards to serve as legs. Allow all glue to dry and cure.
To make the game pieces:
1. Roll out a piece of air dry clay to 1/8″ thick.
2. Use the cookie cutter to cut at least 42 small circles (cut a few more in case of mistakes!).
3. Pull away the excess clay and allow the pieces to dry.
4. Paint 21 pieces one color and 21 pieces another color. I chose to leave the edges unpainted. Paint one side first, allow to dry, then flip and paint the other side. Allow all pieces to dry thoroughly.
There! Aren’t you proud of yourself? I’m seriously loving making these DIY games. I know that some of them take a little longer or are more difficult than our usual DIYs around these parts, but I know that they’re projects that I’ll have around forever. I love that they’re becoming regulars at our family game nights and that our niece and nephew love to play them, and that Henry will play them one day too. We’re literally making memories here, people! Happy playing! xoxo
P.S. See all of our past game night DIYs right here!
Tutorial photos by Lovely Indeed. All other photos by Scot Woodman.
I love the game series! The connect four game is surprisingly simple to make (compared to what I though it’d be like)
Glad you’re enjoying it, Veronica! xo
So fun! I love it.
Thanks B!
I just loveee your game series Chelsea! Endless beautiful color palettes!
WOW!
I loved this game when I was younger. I haven’t played it for like years. This one looks a lot cuter than the one I used to play on though! Way Better!
Nice work! I think I’ll try to build a super sized version for my kids 🙂
Oh my goodness! This is too cute! Might need to make one of these for my little one! 🙂